Mars rover Spirit may back track its way out of being stuck

View full sizeNASAThe Spirit rover, picture above in this October 2007 photo, is stuck in the soft soil of Mars. NASA teams hope to get the rover to back out over its own tracks.

NASA Mars exploration managers at the Jet Propulsion Lab, in California, are pondering whether or not to command the Spirit rover to back out over its own tracks in an attempt to free the bogged rover.

The compacted soil could be stronger and allow the Spirit rover to free itself. NASA managers say it will take weeks to free the rover, and cautioned the attempt may not work at all.

Spirit became stuck in April, and NASA teams have been working with a ground replica to devise a way to free the rover. A wheel has stalled out, and this gives the rover less traction, compounding the problem.